Death Ascension - Chapter 104

The next day, Deon went to his father’s office to make his proposal.

The young prince steeled his heart as he waited for his father’s permission to enter. He glanced sideways and found the royal knights guarding his father’s office staring at him. They both had expressions silently asking what the third prince was there for.

Recently, Prince Deon’s image had slowly shifted from ‘The cowardly prince’ to ‘The troublemaker prince’

From sneaking out of the palace to play in some remote town for two days to joining the hunting competition and getting trapped inside the Killer Ant Colony for a week to bringing back two eccentric and insufferable subordinates to form his Personal Order.

To these knights, it seemed like their youngest prince was in a rebellious phase due to puberty.

Whether that was a positive change or not, they can’t be so sure.

Click!

The ornate wooden door opened, revealing a gently smiling Butler Sebastian.

“Your highness, you may now enter.”

The old butler’s kind eyes roamed all over the prince. Then he reached out to the boy’s shoulder and brushed some dirt off.

“Relax, Prince. You’ll do just fine.” Sebastian whispered.

“Thank you, Gramps.”

Deon walked into the king’s office with a lighter heart.

“Father.”

“What’s the matter, son? It’s rare for you to ask for an audience on your own.”

The king sat behind his desk, drowned in tall stacks of papers. Even as he talked to his child, King Fredrich’s hands busily signed over the documents at an astonishing speed. They were reports from all over Heinken. From the kingdom’s treasury department to infrastructure projects to Investigation reports. All of them require the King’s attention.

Just looking at his overworked Father was enough to convince Deon that he made the right choice.

“Father, for the next academic term…” Deon cautiously watched his father, fear creeping back into his heart. But the prince clenched his fists and forced the words out, “I want to transfer to the swordsmanship department.”

At his declaration, the king’s eyebrows twitched, and his hand froze in mid-writing. Somehow, both Mikael and Deon felt as if he just released an ominous aura that stopped time.

Slowly, the king put down his fountain pen and raised his golden-brown eyes to stare at his child.

There was only one word to describe this king: Frightening.

The intensity behind his stare made Deon unconsciously gulp.

“Deon Hensworth. Do you know what you are saying?” the king’s deep voice reverberated across the quiet office.

“Y-yes, father.”

“You do?” he asked as if to make sure, “You know that it’s a sacrilege against goddess Kariyah and the great Heinken I, but you still dare say it?”

The king tented his fingers and planted his elbow onto his desk. His menacing appearance scared the sh*t out of Deon, but the boy’s determination didn’t lose.

“Yes, Father.” He firmly replied, “So, please allow me.”

Beneath the king’s tented fingers was a proud smirk. ‘What happened to this child?’ he thought. The youngest son that he knew was a wimpy boy who meekly agreed with anything they decide for him. He was so frustratingly obedient that even when his father pushed him into a deadly hunting competition, he didn’t protest.

‘Still, I like this change.’ The king decided.

Although King Fredrich was not one to care much about history that he would force his children to follow their customs, As a ruler, he needs to enforce some level of punishment to the rulebreakers to appease the wrath of the Church.

“I can’t.” the king teased, “if you transfer departments, the pope will barge in here and demand an explanation as to why a royalty blessed by the goddess wants to refuse her gift**. It’s annoying when I already have so much to do.

If you are doing this because you don’t want to be compared to your brothers, just stop.  The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, Deon. it’s green where you water it. Focus on improving our craft instead of looking elsewhere.”

The king picked up his pen and resumed signing the documents, thinking ‘Now, will you quietly back out like you used to, or will you push your luck?’

To his pleasant surprise, Deon unhesitatingly said, “How about a bet, Father?”

“Ohoh? A bet, you say… how brave of you to suggest such a brutish thing to a king.” King Fredrich leaned back on his chair and eyed his youngest with newfound interest, “Very well. Let’s hear it.”

Deon grabbed a nearby chair and sat opposite his father, looking straight into the latter’s eyes.

“The serial kidnapping case. I’ll solve it in a month in exchange for your permission to transfer departments.”

Taken aback, the king stared wide-eyed at Deon, “Are you joking? You are, aren’t you?”

“I’m not, father.”

“You’re serious? That’s even worse! Do you know how long the Bureau has been trying to solve this case? You are underestimatin–!” The king grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose, giving up after seeing Deon’s burning resolve, “Haah… fine. If that’s what you want.”

Mikael was right. The king thought the task to be impossible for Deon, so he agreed with this unreasonable bet without much difficulty.

So, before his father could change his mind, Deon snatched a clean parchment from the desk and wrote an agreement.

[I, Fredrich Hensworth, the 19th ruler of the kingdom of spears, promise to permit the transfer of the third prince, Deon Hensworth, to the Swordsmanship Department of the Royal Academy if he manages to solve the serial kidnapping case in one month from the date of this agreement.]

Deon took the seal bearing the kingdom’s insignia and stamped it on the parchment’s corner. After which, he gave a pen to his father and urged him to put his signature. All this while, the king wordlessly watched his son’s antics in amusement.

“If you’re really going to do this, then you’d have to go to the Royal Investigations Bureau and work there as a temporary Junior Investigator in the Second Unit. I will inform Sir Gordon of your circumstance.”

“Thank you, Father.”

The young prince sighed in relief.

He had passed the first hurdle toward his goal.

Unbeknownst to him, this decision would change his life forever.

–Chapter end–

**The goddess’ gift is said to be the talent for spears. For generations after Heinken I, the royal family produced the best spearmen in the continent. So, Deon choosing a sword over a spear is like detaching himself from the goddess’ embrace.. Making him a Heretic/Heathen/Nonbeliever from the church’s perspective.